We’re used to lengthy cut scenes and introductions in videogames these days, but C64 Turrican II was ahead of the curve in 1991. Its slick, fifteen minute (!) opening sequence (check it out in the video above) was a technical masterclass. Yet it merely whets the appetite for what is to come…

Legendary coder Manfred Trenz said that this platform blast ’em up was to be his last ever game for the Commodore 64. And like so many titles from 1990/’91, a programmer who’d had so many years to get to grips with the machine was able to squeeze out every last drop to leave us with something very special.

The game is huge in every respect. “So massive the main sprite needs a Portaloo, really”, said reviewer Andy Dyer. The twelve stages move in every direction and are full of parallax scrolling. Enormous enemies are literally screens high. There is lapping water and ferocious fire, dense forests and deep water.

Spiders drop onto your head; deadly fish leap from waterfalls. There are dozens of things to avoid or kill – each with a pleasingly meaty sound effect.

And to counter them? You have weapons. Oh, so many weapons. There are lasers. Things that fire 360 degrees. A protective “wall of death” that you can fire up to shield yourself. And so many others to discover along the way. It plays – and almost looks – like a console game from the future.

It looks good, it sounds good, and it’s packed with variety. What more to say? It’s A Corker. CF

CF SAID: “You can teach an old ’64 new tricks!”. 

WE SAY: It almost looks like a SNES game. Witchcraft!

• Read Andy Dyer’s full review
• Go back to the CF’s Top Ten homepage 
• Play Turrican II (requires C64 emulator)